Wabi kusa/paladium low humidity for Vampire Crabs.

Hello, I'm currently planning a wabi kusa style paladium for some Vampire Crabs I'm having shipped from Germany.
The issue is I don't really want to have a kritter carrier style tank and really want something much more aesthetically pleasing.

What would the best way of going about this be? Ideally it'd be open topped as I've procured a luminaire for an 18" tank. My idea was to split the tank in half adding a glass divider as not to flood the dry side and hide this be giving a transition or beached area onto which a heavily planted area of dry land would be. What plants suit low humidity and what I would describe as low light?

On the water side I'd add large and small gravel sand and cobbles imitating what I've seen in other wabikusa and riparium setups and of course, nature. For an extra element I'd like to add a redmoor root or similar banching wood half underwater and half on land. and perhaps some native ferns or suitable mosses.

My biggest issues I can see are heating the tank, filtering the water and finding low humidity, possibly lower temperature plants that will work. Caring for the plants maintenance, misting etc is also an area I'd need some advice on. I've got some ADA aquasoil I'd use as a substrate for the plants on the dry side, this is from an old tank I'd stripped but I can't see it mattering that much if It's going to be used damp and hidden under thick growth.

I think I've said everything I intended to ask. I look forward to peoples aquascaping tips as well as photos for inspiration. Anything and everything will be of help.

Thanks Dollface, I'm fully aware they're not the same thing I merely wanted to merge the 2 styles, the aesthetics of wabikusa and the technical side of a paladium with the heating and segragation of the tank as well as high sides to prevent the crabs escaping.
Also,since they're both emerse and both deal with plants grown above the water.
Not to be too jarring, thanks for the links! There are some Really good starting points. Especially Stevens.

Also,since they're both emerse and both deal with plants grown above the water

IMO that's the only thing they have in common.
Its kind of like saying you want to do a dutch iwagumi because they both involve plants.
"Wabi Kusa is just another word for Paludarium!" is my pet aquascape peeve, I don't want to see it perpetuated.

It sounds from the main post that you want to have the entire side of the tank (unless you're planning to bend this glass divider) as terrestrial, wich is more like a continent than an island.

if you want to do somthing more in line with wabi-kusa aesthetics, just stack some large river rocks around a terracotta pot filled with soil for the terrestrial plants.

as to filtering and heating of the tank, a mini canister filter like the Zoo med would work for small volumes of water, and depending on the vampire crabs needs, you could heat the water, wich would produce slightly more humid conditions in the tank even with an open top.
Or you could get a humidifier for your room.

I remember reading the translated articles in aqua journal about wabi kusa and it's not so much that it's an island in a tray this is merely a variant of it but it's the imperfection and mixed chaos of a non thought out plant ball that makes something wabi kusa, it's the "purer" wild nature of it. It's an abstract concept like many aspects of aquascaping it's open to interpritation and variation, notice how every scape on here disccribes itself as an iwagumi if there's no wood present, they hardly conform to the original idiologies that make an iwagumi and iwagumi, yet like everything they fall under an umbrella term that describes them from their key aesthetic principle.

Surely this aesthetic can be applied to a paludarium? That's my aesthetic aim.

Regarding heating I was told an internal heater isn't going to work as even with a guard on the crabs will sit on it and burn them selves. Would a paludarium heatmat work and what wattage would I need?
Filtering I'm thinking I'll probably do internally using a tiny powerfilter something I can hide with in the aquascape, I've got a eden 501 but it's in need of some TLC to get it working again.
I think humidifying the room is going to be too costly to consider.

Iwagumis still have basic guidelines to the style, even if it's been corrupted to mean any scape with just rocks now. Traditionally there are set 'styles' such as Sanzon Iwagumi, and one could argue that most scapes out there calling themselves 'iwagumi' are technically not, as they don't follow basic rules or principles, they just throw rocks in willynilly.

But no matter how perfectly you follow the traditional rules of an iwagumi, if you stick a giant piece of driftwood in there, it's not going to be an iwagumi anymore.

I'm not saying you can't use some wabi-kusa principles in a paludarium, but what you're describing is not a wabi-kusa.

I'm not familiar with paludarium heating pads, I think a better place to ask would be a paludarium dedicated forum.

iwagumi is two important things. first the layout method and process of the hardscape. specifically using rocks to create certain impressions. second it has no wood ever. as doll face said it just because aomeone calls it an iwagumi doesnt make it one. its almost better to think of iwagumi as the layout process. a malawi cichlid tank using all rocks fir example can never qualify as iwagumi if its just the cave rock wall.

i read that article about vampire crabs in TFH. they sound cool. i don't know that wabi-kusa, paludarium, whatever you want to call it setup with lots of water and just a little terrestrial feature would be enough land area for them. from what i remember they like to crawl around in the leaf litter.

Yeah they're fascinating, apparently they need an even ratio of land to water. I've got my cube drained and waiting to be scaped. I'll be using the whole rocks mosses terrestrial plant basic outlay as outlined in steven chongs post. I've also found a heat mat and thermostat combo.I just need to find a suitable tiny filter and I'm all set! Oh, except that I need some new wood, I've got some sumatra and some redmoore but neither are suitable.

i read that article about vampire crabs in TFH. they sound cool. i don't know that wabi-kusa, paludarium, whatever you want to call it setup with lots of water and just a little terrestrial feature would be enough land area for them. from what i remember they like to crawl around in the leaf litter.

Well he certainly couldn't call it a wabi-kusa palurdarium, because the be-all end-all of wabi-kusa-police would shut him down and make every other post in his thread a defense of the sanctity of a translated word for an art form, until he changed it, or the moderators moved it to a forum devoted to the blasphemously titularly incorrect.

well be sure to post some pictures and updates. i have looked around some and have only found just one US supplier. i might try to research some more on DendroBoard i am sure that those people would know about them.

i am always interested to find out about tiny little new plant & animal options, because i live in a tiny little house and if i put one more enclosure in here it will burst.

Even though my Paludarium is evenly land and water, the Vampire Crabs (G. sp "Carnival" and G. sp "Blue") spend all thier time on the land side. Most of them have tug burrows, or have found a nook under some wood.

The breeder I bought them from had told me the biggest thing to watch out for is drafts. For that reason I believe the tank needs to be covered.

Well he certainly couldn't call it a wabi-kusa palurdarium, because the be-all end-all of wabi-kusa-police would shut him down and make every other post in his thread a defense of the sanctity of a translated word for an art form, until he changed it, or the moderators moved it to a forum devoted to the blasphemously titularly incorrect.

Amen to that. ^^^^^
Thief after doing some reading I totally understand what you are getting at. Some folks unfortunatley must always inject thier opinion rather than simply express it. That said, if Im envisioning it correctly at all it sounds like a sweet setup.

Thanks all, I've been playing with scapes recently, expect a picture soom I'deally I'd like a filter and heater but I'm still at a loss so I won't be doing anything untill I have these as I percieve them to be vitals.

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